Pros and Cons of Stem Cell research

What
are the potential benefits of stem cell research?

Imagine a world where transplants could be done without
the sacrifice of another person losing an organ. This
world exists only within the boundaries of stem cell
research.

What
stem cell research strives to achieve is the cultivation
and nurturement of stem cells, the basic cell of the body,
enabling it to be reproduced to other specific parts
of the body. The implications are obvious. Limbs and
organs could be grown from scratch in a lab then used
in transplants or to cure illnesses.

By providing the
raw material for virtually every kind of human tissue,
new treatments for a wide range of human diseases including
diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, and Parkinson's
disease can now be developed.

This
research also benefits the study of development events
that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which
would cause major clinical consequences such as birth
defects, infertility and pregnancy loss.

A more complete
understanding of normal development will ultimately
allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human
development.

Another
advantage is the ability to test millions of potential
drugs and medicine, without the use of animals or human
testers. This requires a process of simulating the effect
the drug has on a specific population of cells. This
would tell if the drug is useful or problematic.

Cons of Stem Cell Research

There
are no problems surrounding the method of research.
However, the problem lies in the source of the stem
cells. As explained in the methods section, the stem
cells are either obtained from pluripotent cells in
human embryos or fetuses.

This leads to many under handed
means to obtain the embryos or fetus, causing problems
in the "organs black market". This entire
situation gives rise to the illegal sale of the embryos
or fetus by doctors. The research in stem cells have
also raised many religious and social issues (see Issues).